Brighton sends message of home-rule support

A natural gas-drilling company may seek permission to appeal to the state Court of Appeals a lower court’s decision upholding the concept of home rule when it comes to regulating the industry.

Although the Court of Appeals has to agree to take the case, the two municipalities directly involved, as well as Brighton and other municipalities in the state, are preparing, just in case.

The deadline for action comes in August, according to a letter from Elizabeth Thomas, supervisor of the town of Ulysses in Tompkins County. Thomas is seeking the support of other municipalities in the state to send a powerful statement in support of home rule to the court, state Department of Environmental Conservation and state legislators.

Although fracking triggered it, the decision-making power of local governments and citizens is at the heart of the court proceedings, said Brighton Supervisor Bill Moehle.

“It’s a fundamental issue that goes beyond hydrofracking,” Moehle said.

The Brighton Town Board earlier this month agreed to sign onto the amicus brief filed by the town of Ulysses, in support of the towns of Middlefield and Dryden, in Otsego and Tompkins counties, respectively.

The legal dispute intensified after Dryden officials enacted a ban in 2011 on this form of shale gas extraction, prompting a lawsuit from Norse Energy Corp. USA. The driller said state oil, gas and solution mining law preempts local zoning.

A state Supreme Court upheld the ban in early 2012, but the gas company appealed the decision — prompting more than 50 New York municipalities to sign on friends of the court in the case. The state Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department, on May 2 also upheld the ban.

Although gas-industry supporters say there is no reason for local municipalities to do so, Brighton earlier this year enacted a ban on fracking, following the lead of the town of Perinton, which also has a ban in place.

Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature have pushed unsuccessfully for a county ban, which would include prohibiting the treatment of wastewater and solid material resulting from fracking.

Several municipalities have moratoriums in place, including the city of Rochester, which recently extended the temporary prohibition.

The latest action on behalf of the statewide coalition, however, does not ask municipalities to take a position on the issue.

“Rather, the brief is about a municipality’s legal right to decide for itself, now or in the future, whether gas drilling (or any other land use for that matter) is an appropriate use for its citizens,” Thomas wrote.

The town of Ulysses is shouldering the legal costs, so Brighton’s participation as a friend of the court will not cost local tax dollars.

Leaders in Brighton and other towns are better suited to making the local decisions that best protect the interests of their residents, Moehle said.

“We certainly want to be on record that this is important to us,” Moehle said.